Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl is keen for his side to lead the way in one particular stat next season.
Sheffield Wednesday are gearing up for the 2024/25 Championship season, with many Owls fans believing that their side can drastically improve on their 20th place finish last time round.
Although a 20th place finish marked a huge upturn in form from the start of the season under Xisco Munoz, the club’s summer transfer business so far is rapidly raising expectations for next season.
Rohl has so far welcomed in eight new signings. All of which seem like very exciting and impressive signings, with Rohl expecting another new signing in the very near future as well.
Where Sheffield Wednesday might finish next season is too difficult to predict at this moment in time. And right now, it’ somewhat irrelevant, too.
Rohl is focused solely on readying his players for what will be another testing campaign in the Championship, and he’s keen for his players to top the charts in one statistic next season.
Danny Rohl wants Sheffield Wednesday to top the running stats next season
Speaking to BBC reporter Rob Staton from St George’s Park, where Sheffield Wednesday are undergoing some pre-season training, Rohl gave his thoughts ahead of next season.
Rohl avoided comments on where he thinks or hopes Sheffield Wednesday might finish in the league next season. Instead, the German said that he hopes his side can top the running statistics in the second tier.
Rohl said: “I want to be a team who is top of the running distance. Top is for me, top three, top five.
“I want to see a team who has a lot of intensity… at the moment, we are there. I want to see a team who has a lot of high-speed running.”
Rohl added: “It’s about playing football. Hopefully we have lot of points. We score. We have a lot of clean sheets. These are all the areas that we have to improve.
“But the basic is to be fit. To be able to play our football.”
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Danny Rohl needs one thing at Sheffield Wednesday that he didn’t have last season
So far this summer, Sheffield Wednesday have lost eight players and signed eight new players (not including Di’Shon Bernard who’s technically out of contract).
Last time round, Sheffield Wednesday boasted one of the largest first-team squads in the Championship. But it wasn’t exactly one that had huge amounts of quality.
Sheffield Wednesday’s summer transfer plans in the past have focused on quantity over quality. Now under Rohl, Sheffield Wednesday appear to be focussing on quality over quantity.
But there’s still a need for quantity. If Rohl wants his side to play this intense and high-energy football then he needs a good amount of players to rotate throughout the campaign, and to ensure Sheffield Wednesday can last the distance.
That’ll come down to owner Dejphon Chansiri and what backing he can give Rohl in the summer transfer market, which has so far been a lot.
More is needed though if Sheffield Wednesday are to fulfil their potential under Rohl next season.